Shojo Manga Infinity: Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi, and Waki Yamato

(左)©萩尾望都／小学館　(中)©山岸凉子　(右)©大和和紀／講談社

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the National Art Center, Tokyo’s opening, a three-person exhibition will showcase the careers of three giants of shojo (girls’) manga: Moto Hagio, Ryoko Yamagishi, and Waki Yamato.

Hagio, Yamagishi, and Yamato all debuted as manga artists in the late 1960s and went on to be central figures in the 1970s “golden age of shojo manga,” when the genre greatly expanded its creative possibilities. They have continued to publish actively up to the present day, making them witnesses to a history era of artistic diversity and innovation.

This exhibition retraces their creative paths through original drawings from their best-known works and valuable archival materials, while also exploring their respective careers and sources of inspiration.